Gilroy to gain a food and wine Stomping Ground

Jason-Stephens Winery owners Jason and Janu Goelz and Sarah’s Vineyard proprietor Tim Slater on the site of The Stomping Ground, a locavore wine, food and music community coming to Gilroy later this year. (Courtesy of Venessa Barnes)

Get ready, Gilroy! In the spirit of Santa Cruz’s Surf City, Sebastopol’s The Barlow and Paso Robles’ Tin City, The Stomping Ground aims to be a South Bay food and wine destination.

Gilroy’s Jason-Stephens Winery owners Jason and Janu Goelz and Tim Slater, proprietor of Sarah’s Vineyard, have partnered up to bring what they’re calling a “food and wine oasis” to southern Silicon Valley.

The plan is to transform the vacant industrial buildings on a 7-acre lot, near the Gilroy Premium Outlets and Highway 101, into a destination with wine tastings, a restaurant, a local food purveyor, music and events.

Look for a Jason-Stephens satelite tasting room to open here as soon as this summer. With harvest 2016 just around the corner, the Goelzes and Slater anticipate crushing a portion of their grapes in the new facility.

Post-harvest, more tasting rooms, eateries and gourmet food vendors, all local to the area, will follow. The team says they’re talking to a micro-brewery, distillery and cider house who may join The Stomping Ground community.

“We are locating Stomping Ground in the midst of a vibrant farming area, the last part of Silicon Valley that still retains its roots as the Valley of Heart’s Delight,” Slater says. “Stomping Ground is is next to a large cherry orchard on one side and row crops on another. This facility can be a central location for farmers and ranchers to reach out to consumers who are increasingly interested in knowing where their food comes from and who grows it.”

Slater notes that Jason-Stephens will relocate winemaking operations here, but will also keep the current tasting room on Watsonville Road. He says the Sarah’s Vineyard tasting room will also remain in its current home, but plans to move about half of the wine production to the new facility.